The severing of one of Russia's last gas export routes to Europe is being felt most painfully in a small, mainly Russian-speaking breakaway region of Moldova that has for decades looked to Moscow for protection.

Russian gas has stopped passing through Ukraine after a five-year deal expired, leaving Moldova at risk of a crisis.

Russia maintains about 1,500 troops there and long provided free gas. That ended on New Year’s Day when Ukraine, nearly three years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion, refused to extend a transit deal letting Russia pump gas across its territory to central and eastern Europe.